BHARATIYA Janata Party (BJP) President Amit Shah on Sunday lauded the Union government for taking “definitive steps” towards addressing the problem of unemployment among youth and creating visible difference in the first two years of its reign.

He was speaking as a chief guest at an event at Balgandharva Auditorium in Pune organised by the party’s city unit to laud the skill development initiatives taken up by the Modi-led government at Delhi and the state government in Maharashtra with Devendra Fadnavis at the helm. Shah, however, did no touch upon the issue of alleged illegal land deal by party leader Eknath Khadse, who resigned from his ministerial post on Saturday.

He blamed the Congress for running a smear campaign against the party and the government.

“I am associated with Narendrabhai for several decades now. The man has exceptional ability to foresee the future and has a strong will to address the problems facing citizens. In launching the programme of Skill India, he has turned one of the challenges faced by the country into its biggest opportunity,” Shah told an audience of school and college students from city institutes, BJP leaders and workers.

The programme, Shah said, was working at several levels. While the Skill India was to create a force of trained workers, other initiatives like Make In India and Start Up India would boost the entrepreneurship among the youth and step up manufacturing so that the workforce gets employment.

“In the last one year, a total of 20 lakh individuals in the country have undergone skill development training. The government has also started Mudra Yojana under which aspiring young entrepreneurs were provided non-collateral loans in the range of Rs 50,000 to Rs 10 lakh so that they can set up their own businesses. All these efforts have borne fruits and boosted the GDP of the country — which is now among the highest in the world,” said Shah, adding that India’s economy is in the best shape ever.

He also took credit for what he called humanised development.

Meanwhile, the city Congress unit staged protests near the venue by carrying black flags and shouting slogans against the alleged involvement of BJP leaders in instances of corruption and impropriety.

“Yesterday, Eknath Khadse had to resign because he grabbed a plot of land using his influence. There are several BJP leaders and ministers who are involved in impropriety but the BJP government has refused to take any action against them. On the other hand inflation is increasing with each passing day. The government is doing nothing to resolve these problems,” said Ramesh Bagwe, District Congress Committee chief.